When Greg Knapp glanced down with the Seahawks facing a third-and-31 situation in last week’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, his laminated play sheet was as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.
What was the team’s first-year offensive coordinator supposed to do in that third-and-ridiculously-long predicament?
Knapp chuckled before offering, “You try to get it to (Justin) Forsett and let him run around like he does and make some guys miss.”
Instead, it was the Seahawks who were missing on third-down situations, and it was the most glaring offensive problem in the 27-3 loss to the Cardinals. They failed to convert in 11 opportunities. The last time the Seahawks failed to convert a third-down situation was during a 2000 game against the Carolina Panthers (also 0 for 11).
This from an offense that was converting 41.3 percent (31 of 75) on third downs entering the game.
“We can’t put ourselves in those situations and expect to have any kind of progress moving the ball,” Knapp said. “That was our issue,” Knapp said. “We did not have good enough production on first and second downs.”
Falling behind 17-0 before they ran their fourth offensive play didn’t help the situation, either.
“Our fundamentals kind of went out the window, and we just all started playing our own version of football,” Hasselbeck said. “Which is not a way to play. It’s not a way to win.
“So I think we know what we’ve got to do. Now we’ll get the chance to go do it.”
It’s easy to place all the blame on the injury-ravaged offensive line, which on this Sunday featured its fourth starting combination in six games. And the offensive inconsistency is directly related to the series of revolving doors that three-fifths of the line has been – two starters at center, three at left guard and the possibly of a fourth at left tackle for the post-bye game against the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 1.
“It’s a problem,” line coach Mike Solari said. “Your offense doesn’t have any consistency. The guys that are stepping up and going in there, they’re battling, they’re working hard, they’re doing a nice job in the classroom.
“But it is a problem, because you just don’t have that consistency as an offensive line. You don’t have that communication. You don’t have that sense of feel of the lineman next to you. You just don’t.”
So the rest of the offense must find a way to overcome the troubles up front. That’s why the coaches had the players get back to basics in their two practices this week.
“We’re just trying to figure out what we’re good at,” Hasselbeck said.
The back-to-basics bye week approach included a post-practice session Wednesday where Hasselbeck and wide receiver 
“We have good timing on certain routes,” Houshmandzadeh said. “It’s just more so when the defense does ‘this,’ I want him to know that I see what they’re doing and I’m going to do ‘this’ every time. And if I’m not going to do ‘this,’ he’ll know because of the way I’m moving.”
It’s also called rapport or being “on the same page,” and it’s much more difficult to develop than it sounds. Hasselbeck had that when-things-breakdown chemistry with Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram. Houshmandzadeh had it with Carson Palmer when he played for the Cincinnati Bengals. But it took miles of passing yards during the offseason for it to develop, in both instances.
“It comes with a lot of time,” said Houshmandzadeh, who would work out with Palmer in Southern California during the offseason. “And you don’t really look at it like we’re developing timing. We were just working out together. But you could tell as time went on that that’s what it was.”
Hasselbeck says it’s a matter of getting “automatic” with certain plays, and players.
“If we can get some routes where we feel that kind of confidence – that automatic confidence – that breeds consistency,” he said.
